Before he gets busy on a million future projects – directing Next Goal Wins, reportedly popping up in The Suicide Squad, returning to the MCU with Thor: Love And Thunder – New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi has a new film readying for release. His latest as writer-director is World War II-set “anti-hate satire” Jojo Rabbit – in which he also stars, playing a young German boy’s imaginary friend who takes the form of Adolf Hitler. While the first teaser showed us Waititi’s goofy take on the Nazi leader, a new full trailer reveals more of the film’s plot.
Roman Griffin Davis is the titular Jojo, a Hitler Youth boy who discovers his mum (Scarlett Johansson) is sheltering a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in the walls of their house – which shatters the propaganda-fuelled misconceptions he’s been taught under the Nazi regime. It looks like a stylish and witty film with a serious point to drive home – and Empire has an exclusive new shot from the movie, as seen in the Irishman issue.
The magazine hits newsstands on Thursday 5 September, and you can pre-order a copy online here.
Jojo Rabbit will get a wide release in the UK on 1 January 2020 – slap bang in the middle of awards season – while American audiences will get to see it much earlier, on 18 October this year. However, it will be screening at the London Film Festival on 5 October.